Watch 2 sections of the movie Kes This movie was made at about the same time as the Diddakoi book was published. The main character, Caspar, is not a gypsy and he is older than Kizzy and has a brother. There are a few similarities: he has no friends (like Kizzy), is bullied (like Kizzy), and although he has a mother, she does not look after him well and they hardly ever see each other.

Caspar steals a young kestrel and takes it home. Then he steals a book on falconry to learn how to train the kestrel. He trains the kestrel.

We see Caspar at school, taking a sports lesson. He is not good at sports, he does not have any kit, and he is bullied by the sports teacher, who behaves rather childishly.

What differences or similarities do you see between Britain of the 1970s and Japan of today?

N.B.: many of you wrote that in Britain the age of voting is 21. This is incorrect. In Britain the age at which people can vote is 18. In the movie, the librarian tells Caspar that, in order to borrow a library book, he must get the card signed by someone over the age of 21 and on the electoral roll(i.e. someone who lives in that city).

Homework:

Write a report about chapter 3 of Diddakoi. Your report should be about 150 words. It must include:

a summary of the main (key) points or events of the chapter

an explanation of why these points or events are important for the story as a whole

a comparison with another story you know, your own experience, or a news item

your evaluation of the chapter: did you learn from it? If so, what? Be specific, and give details from the chapter.

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Express your opinion! Let me know what you think of today's class, the written materials, the activities, the teacher's lecture, etc. Have a question about English or about today's class? Click the words "Leave a comment" below, or send me an email. Thank you for visiting.

Watched the first 15 minutes of the British movie Kes (in Japanese here). This movie was made in 1969, at about the same time that the book “Diddakoi” was published (1972), so you can see what Britain looked like at that time.

Homework: Read the rest of chapter 2, and all of chapter 3 before next time. Prepare the vocabulary.

Express your opinion! Let me know what you think of today's class, the written materials, the activities, the teacher's lecture, etc. Have a question about English or about today's class? Click the words "Leave a comment" below, or send me an email. Thank you for visiting.

Why do so many people from so many different countries emigrate to Australia? Choose 2 ethnic groups from the charts in the textbook and write about them.

Express your opinion! Let me know what you think of today's class, the written materials, the activities, the teacher's lecture, etc. Have a question about English or about today's class? Click the words "Leave a comment" below, or send me an email. Thank you for visiting.

Express your opinion! Let me know what you think of today's class, the written materials, the activities, the teacher's lecture, etc. Have a question about English or about today's class? Click the words "Leave a comment" below, or send me an email. Thank you for visiting.

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Express your opinion! Let me know what you think of today's class, the written materials, the activities, the teacher's lecture, etc. Have a question about English or about today's class? Click the words "Leave a comment" below, or send me an email. Thank you for visiting.

Express your opinion! Let me know what you think of today's class, the written materials, the activities, the teacher's lecture, etc. Have a question about English or about today's class? Click the words "Leave a comment" below, or send me an email. Thank you for visiting.

note the gypsies’ ways of thinking (“Are you going to let your woman talk to me like that?”, “we don’t want no snoopers”, “’tisn’t children as are the bother… it’s the things they have to have”, “When you had one wagon there was plenty of room; in a fine house with three bedrooms there’s no room at all”.

The Gypsies prefer a travelling life: they prefer the wagon to a house. They prefer their freedom, even if it means they cannot afford many “fine things”.

They look after each other, and each other’s children.

They have lots of old traditions which are different from those of non-gypsies (e.g. burning the home of a dead person).

Not all gypsies respect the old traditions: some of them think that is “old thinking” and they want to change (or maybe they just want some of the dead person’s belongings?)

The admiral knows the gypsies traditions and he respects them. He also trusts the gypsies (even though there is a fire in his orchard, he is not worried).

Homework: prepare the rest of chapter 2 (at least up to page 30) before next class:

look up new words, check the pronunciation, not just the meaning.

I expect you to read and prepare before the class, not during the class.

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Express your opinion! Let me know what you think of today's class, the written materials, the activities, the teacher's lecture, etc. Have a question about English or about today's class? Click the words "Leave a comment" below, or send me an email. Thank you for visiting.

These are YOUR presentations, so I think it is better if I say nothing about the presentation styles. Students should reflect （反省）on their own presentations, and learn by observing other presentations.

About the content of the presentations, I was pleased because all of them showed

you had done some research

you chose topics that had educational value for the class

What is your purpose or objective for studying at university?

to learn to think

to gain new understanding

to graduate on time (i.e. in 4 years or less).

Information –> Knowledge –> Understanding.

E.g. Australia has many World Heritage sites (information –> knowledge, because most of you already know what “World Heritage Site” means because you have some in Japan, e.g. Horyuji 法隆寺)

2 of them are Cultural Heritage sites – Sydney Opera House and Carlton Gardens (information –> knowledge, because you already know what the Sydney Opera House is, so you can guess why it is of cultural importance)

Almost all the other World Heritage sites in Australia are sites of natural beauty or importance, e.g. the Great Barrier Reef (knowledge). What can we understand about Australia from this knowledge and information?

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Express your opinion! Let me know what you think of today's class, the written materials, the activities, the teacher's lecture, etc. Have a question about English or about today's class? Click the words "Leave a comment" below, or send me an email. Thank you for visiting.

summarize the article or essay in 2-3 sentences, and provide the reference to it using the MLA style.

Express your opinion! Let me know what you think of today's class, the written materials, the activities, the teacher's lecture, etc. Have a question about English or about today's class? Click the words "Leave a comment" below, or send me an email. Thank you for visiting.